After flashing LineageOS 17.1, here is how you can install Android 10 Gapps (Google Apps) on your phone. The first set of LineageOS 17.1 builds have recently been released for various phones. The main change with this new version is, of-course, Android 10. Previously, LineageOS 16 was derived from Android Pie. Further, continuing the format of having Google apps as a separate entity, LineageOS 17.1 doesn’t come with any Gapps rather you need to flash them manually. For the complete Gapps install procedure for LineageOS 17.1, we have detailed all the steps right ahead along with Android 10 Google Apps package download links.
Gapps is short for Google Apps and it refers to all key apps that make Android complete such as Play Store, Play Games and various other Google-developed apps that you normally find on a stock Android phone. By design, however, all of these apps are not bundled within LineageOS itself. Rather, users are required to install Gapps separately. How? We will explain right ahead in our detailed tutorial tailored for LineageOS 17.1!
How to Install Gapps on LineageOS 17.1
In order to have Google apps running within LineageOS 17.1, there are two things you need to implement. First, you have to download proper Gapps package for your device. Depending on which phone you have, there are various packages available.
Second, you then to need to implement the actual install process which requires a custom recovery. Since it is a given you would have TWRP running to flash LineageOS 17.1 in the first place, you can install Gapps right after the ROM install.
Download Android 10 Gapps
There are couple of major Google app variants.
As mentioned, this Gapps (Google Apps) package is available in various sizes for different types of architectures. However, only two of them are available as of right now – for ARM and ARM64. You can download the latest ones from the links below.
For ARM Architecture:
ARM devices are based on 32-bit architecture, you can check if your device is based on ARM by looking at its processor model and finding which architecture it utilizes.
For ARM64 Architecture:
These packages are for ARM devices based on 64-bit architecture. This is the most common type of architecture on phones these days – launched in the year 2019 and later.
For x86 Architecture:
These ZIP files are for phones running Intel x86 processors and 32-bit Android.
For x86_64 Architecture:
These Google Apps work on Intel based x86 processors that support 64-bit Android.
Can’t find an appropriate file or want more information on each package? Read: Google Apps for Android 10.
Install Gapps on LineageOS 17.1
The exact procedure for having Gapps running is mentioned right ahead. Once you get the proper Google Apps package for your phone, just follow the steps ahead.
It is recommended, by LineageOS team, that users install Gapps right after they flash LineageOS 17.1 so keep that in mind.
To Remember:
- You should have Android 10 custom ROM flashed already, based on AOSP code.
- You need to have a custom recovery installed, like TWRP.
- You can skip installation of Gapps and use your custom ROM but there wont be any Google apps or Google account support, especially the Google Play Store.
Complete Step-By-Step Instructions:
Step 1 – After downloading the correct ZIP file from above, make sure to transfer it to the root of your device, right where you would have placed LineageOS 17.1 package.
NOTE: Skip Step 2 if you have just finished installing LineageOS 17.1 and are already in recovery mode.
Step 2 – Power OFF your device and boot into Recovery Mode [Read: How to Enter Recovery Mode on Any Android Phone].
Step 3 – In custom recovery, scroll down to “flash zip from SD card” and press the POWER button to select it.
Step 4 – Press the POWER button again and select “choose zip from sdcard”.
Step 5 – Now using your VOLUME keys, navigate to ZIP FILE and select it using the POWER button. Confirm the installation on the next screen and the installation procedure should start now.
Step 6 – After the installation completes, go to “Go Back” and reboot the device by selecting the Reboot option from the recovery menu. The device will boot now.
You will now have all the Google apps installed. You can view them in the app drawer and use them like normal apps.
Why doesn’t LineageOS 17.1 come Pre-Installed with Google Apps?
We get this question from many readers who are trying out LineageOS 17.1, or any other AOSP ROM, that why doesn’t the ROM come pre-installed with Google Apps? Well, the straight away answer is due to licensing issues. Google apps are proprietary pieces of software that are owned solely by the brand. These apps aren’t open-source hence they are excluded from Android Open Source Project codebase — from which LineageOS 17.1 is derived.
As an added benefit of sorts, the actual LineageOS 17.1 ROM package size is decreased substanitally due to lack of these apps. This makes it relatively easier for users with slower or unstable connections to download the ROM.
Hopefully, you have successfully implemented Android 10 Gapps on LineageOS 17.1 and can access all Google services on your phone. If you ran into issues, you can use our comments section to get through to us.
